They fear the soap, famous for its northern humour and quirky plots, is copying EastEnders in a bid to snatch ratings.

And fans agree the Weatherfield body count is too high after a string of ­killings, rapes, a lethal tram crash, a fatal fire and now Tina McIntyre, played by Michelle Keegan, becoming the latest resident to meet a grisly end.

Last night one senior cast member said: “It is getting ridiculous.

"The soap is just about the lives of a few people who live in a handful of streets but half the cast keep ­getting bumped off.

“And a lot of the remaining cast think it is too much.

“I know there have to be gritty ­storylines but there don’t need to be quite so many of them and all the time.”

He added: “Can you imagine living in a place like Weatherfield?

"It would be a ghost town because all the folk would have moved out due to the violence.

“There are favelas in Brazil that probably have a lower murder rate than Weatherfield.

“Death and destruction is not what Corrie is about.

"Leave that to ­EastEnders.”

Viewers are also turning against the mayhem, with one fan writing on Twitter: “Chances of dying a violent death in coronation street must be about 1/3.”

Another added: “Cannot actually get over Coronation Street. These soaps are so brutal and violent these days.”

And on the Digital Spy forum a ­viewer wrote: “Come on Corrie get real. Nowhere is this violent – not even EastEnders.”

“I know there have to be gritty ­storylines but there don’t need to be quite so many of them and all the time”

A senior Corrie cast member

The Street has seen 16 murders in its 54-year history but in the past four years the bodies have been piling up.

Joe McIntyre drowned in Lake ­Windermere while trying to fake his own death in ­February 2010.

Then Robbie Sloan was shot by Tony Gordon before the gunman died in a blaze in the Underworld factory.

In July 2010 Colin Fishwick’s body was dumped in the charred ruins of the factory after he died arguing with John Stape.

December that year brought the tram disaster which claimed the lives of Ashley Peacock, Molly Dobbs and a taxi ­driver.

In the same month ­Charlotte Hoyle was murdered with a ­hammer by Stape.

In January 2011 Joy Fishwick died at the hands of Stape, suffering a heart attack when he covered her mouth to stop her ­screaming for help.

Two months later Frank Foster ­sexually assaulted Maria Connor in scenes so graphic they reduced actress Samia Ghadie to tears.

Then Edna Hargreaves perished ­under a hairdryer at Audrey’s salon.

A few months later came the harrowing rape scene when Frank attacked Carla Connor.

And in October that same year Stape died in a car crash.

In March 2012 Frank was battered to death in the ­factory.

Lesley Kershaw died ­after putting a toaster in a sink two months later.

In March last year Toni ­Griffiths was killed in an explosion in the Rovers.

The same accident led to the death of Sunita ­Alahan in hospital after Karl ­Munro removed her breathing tube.

This January Hayley Cropper killed herself before being claimed by ­cancer.